Oley Valley Man Enters House Race In 130th District

February 05, 1986|The Morning Call

Vowing to reject campaign contributions, a school director from Oley Valley has added his name to the list of candidates running in the May 20 primary election for the state House in Berks County's 130th District.

On Monday, Levi M. Wegman, a 60-year-old Oley Valley School Board member, announced his candidacy for the post, which is being vacated by Lester K. Fryer, a 12-term Democrat from Boyertown.

"I am not taking any public contributions so I can go in there as a free agent and do the job the way I want," Wegman said. The primary and general election campaigns could cost between $3,000 and $10,000, money Wegman said he would take from his own pocket. "I'm keeping track of all my expenditures," he said.

Wegman joins three other Democrats - Randy L. Pyle, Florence E. Kozak and John R. McCloskey - who are fighting for the Democratic Party nomination, while two Republicans - Dennis Leh of Amity Township and Topton Mayor Lawrence Werst - are seeking their party's nomination. In 1980, Werst lost his bid for the House seat by 215 votes.

In addition to owning and operating the Reading Farmers Market, Wegman is a past president and vice president of the Oley Valley School Board. He has been on the board for 11 years. He is also vice chairman of the Berks County Vocational-Technical School Joint Operating Committee.

Wegman, who has never run for state office, said he is concerned with a number of issues, including education, the plight of farmers and the problems surrounding automobile and liability insurance.

"In the school district I see a lot of mandated programs without any funding coming in," said Wegman. While mandating special education programs and increased requirements for graduation, the state has not increased funding to school districts, he said. "I'm not opposed to these programs," he said, "but the funding is just not there."

Wegman also said that living in a farming community has given him insight into the plight of the farmer.

"They're having a rough time," he said. "It's impossible for farmers to produce crops at a profitable rate." To solve the problem, Wegman said special farming zones could be created where commercial and residential development would be prohibited.

"That would keep the price of the farm land within reason and people could buy it for farming purposes," he said.

Wegman also called automobile insurance a "catastrophic problem" and said liability premiums for municipalities and small businesses need to be contained.